


A Relationship in Three Cups

by Queenrikki



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Crack Relationships, Crack Treated Seriously, F/M, May/December Relationship, adultery adjacent, that single brain cell
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-11
Updated: 2019-07-11
Packaged: 2020-06-26 03:58:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19760131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Queenrikki/pseuds/Queenrikki
Summary: This is what happens when a bunch of people share one brain cell.  Or...if you make a joke enough times, someone eventually writes it.  Or...Mama Evans runs into Kyle, drinks coffee and falls in love.





	A Relationship in Three Cups

She was being foolish. Ann took a drink from her bottled water, not because she was thirsty, but to give herself something to do. The waiting area wasn’t exactly a hotbed of activity and she was here by herself. She hadn’t been allowed to see Isobel. And Max was… well, he had made it perfectly clear that she was not welcome. They were both adults, but it hurt to see how little they needed her.

Izzy was her daughter; she should know what was happening to her but she was being kept in the dark. She should know better. Did, in fact, know better. But that didn’t prevent her from falling into the same traps, over and over again. So here she was, in the hospital, no son and no husband to worry with. They were off doing their own thing. And that never included her. 

Her family all had their own little secrets and she had always pretended not to see them. But twenty years was a long time to feign obliviousness and she was so tired. But the habits of a lifetime were hard to break. So here she was, trying to open the doors that Max and Isobel so stubbornly insisted on keeping locked. Sometimes, Ann wondered why she was here. Did anyone really need this from her? Did they really need _her_?

“Mrs. Evans?”

She turned away from the uncomfortable wooden chair to the young man in a lab coat before her. She recognized his handsome face but his name escaped her. Ann straightened up and ran a hand through her hair. “Can I help you?”

He smiled and took a seat next to her. “I don’t know if you remember me but I’m Kyle Valenti. I went to school with Max and Isobel. I was just checking to see if you were doing all right.” She nodded at his name. She remembered him now. He’d always been the sheriff’s son. She smiled. Even with a different sheriff, that was still true. He’d been a cute kid back in his school days. Her eyes traveled briefly over him. He’d grown up _well_.

“Forgive me for being so rude. I didn’t recognize you at first. I heard that you had come home. I’m always glad to have our kids come back home. But…mmm?” Ann paused. It was so hard to ask “Why the fuck are you here?” politely.

He glanced in the direction of Isobel’s room and then looked back at her. Ann cocked her head to the side and took a good look at Kyle Valenti. She didn’t say anything but she let her eyes convey the rest of her question.

“I’m not being nosy or spying or anything. I, hmmm, have been checking in on Isobel since she...admitted herself. I was just stopping by before I took a break.”

A thought formed in Ann’s head and she wasn’t sure that she liked it. “It’s funny, I don’t remember the two of you being that close in school. Honestly, I mostly remember your name from hearing Max muttering “Fucking Kyle Valenti” under his voice all the time.”

He snorted and a grin spread across his face. “I bet he did just that.” He looked into her eyes for a moment. Ann wasn’t sure what was going on in his head, but he shook it. “Well, we weren’t close in school, but we did all grow up together and I... I know that she’s having a difficult time and I wanted to make sure she was okay.”

The bubble of suspicion popped and she smiled. “I think that makes you a very good man.”

“And… I also want to make sure that you’re okay. Just because you’re not the one in the hospital, doesn’t mean that it doesn’t affect you.” Kyle smiled and held out his hand “Let’s go and get you a coffee. My treat.”

Ann stared at his had a moment. She wasn’t sure that this was a good idea, but a wall of weariness just crashed around her and she looked at the handsome young man standing before her. She shook her head slightly and placed her hand in his. 

“All right Dr. Valenti, lead the way.

**_***_ **

Ann didn’t particularly like Bridge. It was FINE and she liked the company but it wasn’t a very interesting card game so she was always happy when it broke up and the whole club went out for brunch. What she did like was gossip. One of the things you learned about living in a small town was that the stereotype was true. Everyone knew everyone else’s business and they were always happy to talk about you both to your face and behind your back. Even knowing this fact, she was still a little shocked when Joan had started talking about Isobel’s troubles right in front of her. 

The fact that she didn’t know anything made the whole situation worse. Max had told her that Isobel was away in rehab. She hadn’t even pretended to believe him. Ann knew when her children were lying to her; it was the background radiation of her life. She had simply learned that it did no good to confront them about the truth. They never told her anything, at least not anything that really mattered. Max, bless him, had not even come up with the name of a facility or a location. She was slightly disappointed. When he’d been little, she’d listened to his stories and had been impressed by his imagination. It seems that as an adult, he’d come to rely on silence to carry the weight of his lies. 

She walked out of the restaurant, her car keys in her hand. She was looking down at her phone to check a notification when she knocked into someone, losing her grip in the process. 

“Got it!”

“I’m so sorry, that was all my fault.” Ann straightened up and saw Kyle Valenti holding her phone out to her. He wore a long-sleeved fitted shirt. Along with his jogging shorts and his headphones, he looked like an advertisement in a fitness magazine.

He smiled and Ann made a point to look down as she put her phone back into her purse. She was not going to be a fool about this young man, no matter how nice he was to her or how nice he looked. Or how alone she felt.

“No worries. At least you weren’t trying to cross the street. We might have had a real accident then.”

She shook her head. “I should know better to check my phone while walking and not looking where I was going. I thought it might have been something about Isobel but...”

She was looking directly at him when she said that, so she caught the look of...shame...embarrassment? she couldn’t quite place the emotion that flittered across his face and was gone almost instantly. But it had been when she mentioned Isobel’s name, which meant he knew something. And that he was not proud of it. 

She looked at Kyle appraisingly. He was almost ridiculously good-looking. His cheekbones were so sharp, she half-expected them to cut through his skin. He had great hair and nice abs. She almost sighed appreciatively. 

But…Isobel wouldn’t?

She told herself that she wasn’t cataloging his looks for her own benefit. In that moment, Ann knew herself to be a god damned liar. This wasn’t a time for self-deception. This was a time for the truth.

“Are you having an affair with my daughter?”

“No! God, no! What made you think something like that?”

“You’re checking up on her and you get all weird whenever her name comes up. Like you’re hiding something. And well…” she gestured up and down at him “Look at you! You’re gorgeous! If she was going to cheat on Noah, of course, it would be someone like you!”

She saw Kyle glance around and she noticed that there were several people staring at them. Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment and she realized how foolish she looked. She took a deep breath, but it wasn’t really working. Of course, the idea was ridiculous. Everything she did these days was. 

Her husband was always busy with one thing or the other. Her children had no need for her (and honestly never had). Here she was trying to be clever and not the useless bit of nothing that she…Ann was annoyed when she felt the first tear hit her cheek. She swatted it away. She didn’t really have time for this kind of display and right in the middle of the street. 

“I’m sorry.” The tears, despite her best effort, were still falling. She balled her fist and tried to hurry away from him. Stupid emotions, they always betrayed her.

“No way am I going to leave you alone right now.” Kyle took her purse and put his arm around her shoulder. In her heels, she was taller, but Kyle didn’t seem to mind. Oddly, that made her feel more secure. “Come on. I’m going to get you a cup of coffee and get you off the street.”

Feelings were stupid. They made you vulnerable and, worse, pitiable. She found herself guided through the doors of the Bean Me Up. Kyle steered her towards a table near the back of the building and sat her down. He left her to go get their coffee and Ann took her purse and headed to the ladies’ room. 

Turning on the faucet, she wet a paper towel and pressed it to her eyes. Hopefully, the redness and swelling would ease and no one (other than the people who saw her on the street) would know. 

She heard a knock at the door and froze. “Are you in there? Are you okay...Ann?”

She stood at the mirror, surprised by the sound of Kyle’s voice. And, if she were honest, by how disheveled she looked. It always took forever to look good but only a second to mess it all up. He knocked again and she was glad that she was in here alone. 

“Ann?”

“I’m fine, Kyle! I’ll be out in a minute.” _Leave. Just leave_.

She heard him moving on the other side of the door. “Are you sure?” He sounded as if he didn’t believe her, which made sense. Ann didn’t even believe herself. “I’m sure. I’ll be out in just a minute. Thank you for...” _Caring._ “Just thank you.”

She took a second to dry her eyes and then carefully reapplied her makeup.

When she came back out, Kyle was sitting at the table where he’d left her, sipping calmly from his cup. He hadn’t seen her when she exited the restroom and a part of her wanted to sneak past him and make a run for it. But she was a grown woman and she dealt with much worse than breaking into tears in front of a handsome man she barely knew.

When he did notice her, he smiled and gestured to her with his own cup. “I thought that you had abandoned me.”

She smiled. “Then why are you still here?”

He returned the smile and handed her the cup of coffee. “When all else is gone, hope remains.”

Ann looked down, smiling. She took a sip of coffee and surprised that it was something she liked.  
“This is pretty good.”

Kyle smiled. “I remember what you said during our last coffee outing and I just ordered based on that.”

“I only recall talking about how bad the coffee in the cafeteria was.”

“Yeah but you also talked about what you did like. Soy latte with nutmeg and a dash of caramel. It’s a very distinctive drink.”

Ann shook her head. “That was weeks ago. I wouldn’t expect you to keep something like that in your head. You’ve got so many much more important things to think about.” She didn’t think that her husband knew what kind of coffee she liked. Actually, she as pretty sure that he thought she drank tea instead; he kept bringing her different blends to try.

“I think that you’re worth remembering.” He smiled and looked down at his own cup. “Anyway, it’s just coffee.” 

She pushed her hair back and noticed that it was starting to curl. She grimaced and made 

a mental note to take care of that later.

“What are you thinking?”

“Do you really want to know?”

“Yeah, I asked.”

“My hair is starting to curl, so I was making a note to call my stylist.”

Kyle nodded. “Yeah, I remember when we were kids, your hair was…bouncy.”

“That’s one way to describe it. It was a mess.”

Kyle shook his head. “No! I always thought your hair looked great. It looked so soft and curly. You know, like 90’s Nicole Kidman.”

She smiled and pushed back her hair again. “You really do know how to give a compliment, don’t you Valenti. You must get that from your dad.”

The smile on Kyle’s face faltered. “Yeah, he was _very_ charming from what I hear.” Ann took a larger than intended sip of her coffee and to avoid saying anything. “You didn’t sleep with my dad, did you?” 

“What!” she choked out as she cleared the coffee from her airways. “What made you ask me that?” 

Kyle shrugged. “Well, you asked me if was sleeping with Isobel, I thought it was only fair. And besides, you wouldn’t be the first mother of a classmate that I found out he’d slept with. It’s always so awesome to discover your parent’s…peccadillos.”

A part of her wanted to ask him who the other woman was and how he found out. But honestly, it could have been any number of women she’d known from the twin’s school days. Jim Valenti, like his son, had been very handsome and most of the mothers would have been very happy to give him a good time. And if she was being honest, Ann wasn’t sure that she would have said no if he’d asked. 

Good thing he never had. “No, I didn’t sleep with your dad. I heard a few rumors back then about who might have but I’m not one to gossip.” This…this wasn’t fun or juicy. It was sad and a bit tawdry. That list had been long and frankly, she didn’t see any good reason to dredge up the misdeeds of a man dead and gone.

“You don’t gossip?” Kyle cocked his head to the side. “Really, I think I remember my mother saying…”

“I’m not one to gossip about _important_ things. I don’t know anything about the particulars of your parents’ marriage, but I do know that your mom must have put up with a lot. Women always do.” Husbands who are never there when you need them or where they’re supposed to be… She wondered how much of that last bit was about her own situation, but she didn’t really want to bring thoughts of her own marriage into this moment. 

When she looked back at him, his warm, dark eyes were brimming with sympathy. She wanted to gag. She had never been the sort of person who accepted sympathy often or easily. 

And she wasn’t about to change that now. Ann jumped up and grabbed her purse. She felt the sting in her eyes and knew that her body was going to betray her.

_Not this. Not again._

“I’ve got to…I have an appointment that I can’t miss.” 

Kyle stood and grabbed her hand. Ann froze and looked down at his hand on hers. “I didn’t mean to upset you. I want you to know that if you ever need to talk that…”

Ann pulled her arm away. “Do you think that I’m so pathetic that this is going to work on me?”

“What are you talking about?” Kyle looked taken aback and glanced quickly around the coffee shop’s lobby to see if anyone was paying attention to them. Why should he care? He wasn’t the one who was married. He didn’t have a family and established reputations in town. No one would think anything of him having coffee with a woman. Her, well…they would have plenty to say if she gave them anything to work with. She shook her head and stomped towards the door without looking back. 

She walked out the door and down the street back towards her parking spot. She heard footsteps behind her, but she didn’t look back. She knew they were Kyle’s. She ignored the fact that she could learn his gait after such a short acquaintance. It didn’t matter. She knew herself well enough to know that if she didn’t put up some barrier now, this might lead to something else and she didn’t want to go there. There wasn’t any good ending in that scenario for her, no matter how much fun it might be in the short run.

“Could you please stop walking and talk to me!”

She didn’t stop but said loudly enough for him to hear, “Could you please stop following me so that I can get on with the rest of my day.” _And the rest of my life_.

She stopped next to her car with Kyle following suit. The brunch crowd had all but dissipated and she remembered that it was a Sunday afternoon in a small town. The few people out and about congregated around the restaurants and the coffee shop. Here they were, if not alone, then close to it.

“I don’t know why you’ve been so nice to me, but I have a few ideas.”

“I haven’t done anything…”

“No, you’ve just been charming and handsome and oh so solicitous regarding my emotional state.” She felt the corners of her mouth curve into a sneer. “So, what? You’re thinking that here’s this lonely middle-aged woman that you can probably get into bed without much more than a kind word and a cup of coffee?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Ann.” The sound of her name on his lips…it was something she couldn’t help but pay attention to. “For some reason, you’re being defensive and trying to drive me off, I get that. I’m not the sort of person who would do something like that and I think you know it. You are interesting and funny and sharp. _In more ways than one_. I’m not being nice to you because I’m trying to get into your pants or keep you off guard or whatever else you’ve come up with to deflect from what’s actually going on. I’m being nice…because I like you. And I think you deserve to have someone just be kind to you. No agenda needed.”

She snorted. “And of course, it would be ridiculous for you to be trying to sleep with me.”

Kyle shook his head slowly and took her hand in his. “I can’t think of anything less ridiculous.” There was a part of her that wanted to look around and see if there was anyone she knew around. But mostly she wanted to lean in. 

So, she did.

Kyle pulled away. He was smiling and shaking his head. Ann cocked her head to the side. “Am I reading this wrong? I thought…”

He laughed this time, but it was devoid of anything resembling humor. “You’re right. _You_ are absolutely right. But the timing isn’t.” She closed her eyes and tried to will the blood away from her cheeks, but her face felt toasty warm and she knew that her embarrassment was plain for everyone to see. 

“I understand. You know, I was right. I think that it’s time for me to go home. It was nice talking to you.”

“Don’t be like that. None of this has to be like…”

“Kyle Valenti, you are the last person who gets to dictate my actions right now. When you turn a lady down at least have the decency to walk away.” She got into her car and turned the key. It was better that she leave him behind, anyway. There was nothing here for her but humiliation and she had too much pride to willingly go down that route. 

**_***_ **

1:00 am was not a time that Ann ever had any interest in seeing. Only tragedies great or small had you up at this hour. She felt a flash of irritation at being awake. She’d only just gotten sleep a little more than an hour ago when the soft plinking of…something against her window had woken her up. She’d made a habit of being a light sleeper when the twins had been younger, and she’d never managed to shake that habit. The fact someone was…yeah, someone was _actually_ throwing rocks at her window made her curious to see what was going on. Her heart fluttered a little as she went to the window and opened it.

 _Fucking_ Kyle Valenti stood on her dead lawn, waving up at her. 

Ann opened the window all the way, shivering at the breeze. “How did you get over the fence?” She rolled her eyes. That was a brilliant thing to say.

“I’m very agile. I need to talk to you. Can I come in?” 

“Couldn’t you have just called?” She was stalling and she knew it but she wasn’t sure it was a good idea for her to let him inside.

“I don’t have your number. Besides, I thought that this would be more endearing. You didn’t seem all that happy with me the last time we saw each other.” 

“I’m coming down. Give me a minute to put something on.” She left on her nightgown but pulled on a leather coat and a pair of fur-lined boots. She may be about to make a fool of herself but goddammit she was going to be warm while doing it. 

She raced down the stairs, pulling her hair back. The worst thing about going back to curly hair was trying to get it out of the way. She opened the door and saw Kyle rocking back on his heels and looking around. 

“No one’s out there,” but he still looked around the yard as if he were expecting someone to leap out of the shadows. She shook her head and gestured him inside.

“Come on in, it’s cold out there.”

He followed her inside. She noticed Kyle double-checked the locks before trailing behind her into the kitchen. She pulled down two mugs as Kyle pulled out a stool and sat down. Ann took them over to the coffee bar and started the coffee machine. She glanced back and Kyle, currently drumming his fingers on the island and watching her. 

“I like your hair. It looks much better curly.” She shook her head but she had a slight smile on her face that he couldn’t see. It annoyed her but she was pleased that he liked the way she looked. She wouldn’t tell him but their conversation had inspired the change.

When she turned back to him, she was able to glare at him in what she hoped was an intimidating manner. “Are we really going to talk about my hair when you come to my house in the middle of the night…acting, I might add, squirrelly as hell? Is this what we’re _really_ doing.” 

“You’re right. This is stupid.” He made a move to get up. 

“Don’t leave. Stay. Drink your coffee and actually _tell_ me what you came here to say!”

The coffee machine decided to finish at just that moment. She took the mugs and filled them. She prepared both cups and handed him one and sat and the stool next to him. Ann swiveled so that she was facing him. She took a small sip of her coffee while she waited. Kyle, still holding his mug, somehow avoided her eyes despite facing her.

“My dad…” He stopped and took a sip of the coffee. He closed his eyes and kept shaking his head. 

Ann put a hand on his shoulder. “I know it’s hard discovering that the people that we love aren’t who we thought they were. It’s okay for you to be upset by it.”

Kyle shook his head and snorted. “Annie, you have no idea.” He moved her hand from his shoulder and held it in his hands. “You have no idea at all how right you are.” He sighed. “Do you remember when we talked about my father’s infidelity?” Ann nodded but stayed silent. If she talked, she knew he wouldn’t. “Well, that wasn’t even the tip of the iceberg. He was a part of something truly terrible and I don’t know how I’m going to live with that.” 

Kyle closed his eyes and leaned forward. “I’ve spent the last few years trying to live up to my father’s memory and now I realize that he wasn’t that great of a person. Today…, I guess yesterday now, I found out that he did some awful, monstrous things. I think he wanted to atone for his actions, but I don’t know if you can make up for what he did. Or was party to…or whatever. I don’t know.”

She leaned closer so that her forehead rested on his. She understood disappointment. Heartbreak was an old friend but…she didn’t want that for him. Ann didn’t understand the hollow ache in her stomach. Kyle should be nothing to her. A friend at most, but…

She smoothed his hair back from his face. “I don’t know what your dad did. It doesn’t matter.” He drew in a breath to argue, but she put a finger over his mouth. “You are not your father. I know you’ve become disillusioned because of what you’ve learned about your father but that happens to everyone.”

“But not everyone’s dad has committed war crimes.” He pulled back, away from her touch, and looked down at the tile beneath his chair.

Ann took a deep breath. In the back of her mind, she knew that the military has had a strong hold on this town since time began. She was absolutely certain that she did not want to know what had happened that would make this man, who so adored his father, call him a war criminal.

She shrugged. “What I’m trying to say is…what your father did or did not do really doesn’t matter. He’s no longer here to speak for himself and I don’t believe that you feel comfortable judging him for what he’s done. What matters here is _you_. What you do today and in the future. You have to decide if you’re going to let the guilt you feel about his actions dictate the rest of your life.”

“You know, all my life my father taught me to live by the Valenti code.” Kyle scoffed. “It even sounds stupid now that I say it out loud. He didn’t live up to it and I’m still trying to figure out what that means to me _. For me_. I do know one thing. I don’t want to be the kind of man he was.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Kyle shook his head. “I don’t know! Be honest, maybe? Don’t cheat on my wife? Keep my word?”

“Have you as a doctor ever intentionally harmed anyone?”

“No! Of course not! Why would you ask something like that?”

Ann looked up at the ceiling and shook her head. How could it still be so bright when everything was just so wrong? “You’re not in the service. You are not married. You haven’t made _any_ promises. You don’t have an oath to break.”

He sat and whispered, “I don’t want to be the person who makes you break yours, either.” 

“Kyle…this isn’t about me…”

“It is.” He smiled for the first time since the conversation started. “Well, some of it is. I didn’t come here because I don’t have anyone else to talk to. I do have other friends. I came here because I wanted to talk to you _._ I don’t know what that says about me. I was in the dark for so long about the kind of man my father was. I don’t know if he was a bad man and he was a good father, but he was undeniably a bad husband. I’ve only recently seen how much he hurt my mom. I don’t want to be the cause of that kind of pain.”

Ann laughed. She couldn’t think of anything else to do. “My marriage, and the state thereof, isn’t one of your concerns.”

Kyle lifted a hand and pushed a stubbornly curling lock of hair behind her ear. This familiarity should annoy her. But he had made it clear that their relationship couldn’t go any further and the feel of his hand on her skin was something she wanted to hang onto.

“But…I want it to be. You weren’t _entirely_ wrong when you accused me of wanting to get into your pants. I would never…but I am attracted to you. I also like you. You are amazing.” He stared into her eyes and arched his brows. “And you’re hair is amazing!” 

Ann laughed and Kyle slid his hand so that it rested on the back of her neck. “I like how you are. Even the prickly bits.”

She snorted. “You haven’t even seen the worst of those.”

“And I can’t wait to.”

She pulled away and glared at him. “You shouldn’t talk like that.”

“Like what? Like I like you? That I think you’re great? I’m your friend, right? At least I hope I am.”

She shook her head. “I do not have friends who talk about me or to me, the way you do.”

Kyle scrunched his face. “Then, I think you have some really shitty friends.” She grinned. Some of her hair had escaped her ponytail and she did not even try to push it back. “I think that you might be right. That’s sad, isn’t it? You know those women that I call my friends? I’m never sure if they even like me. I feel like their waiting for me to fail.” She smiled. “I don’t feel that way with when I’m with you. I feel like smiling.”

“I like you smiling. Really smiling. I like you happy. I wish that this was the face that you showed the world.”

“That’s an awful lot to ask from me. My entire life is pretending to be happy and satisfied. Sometimes I don’t know who I am when I’m not pretending.”

“I really want you to find out.” He smiled and stroked her hand. “You spend so much time, worrying about other people. What they think! How they feel! I know that you’re tired of it. You project this perfect image but it’s taking a real toll on you.”

She laughed. “We all do that. Pretend to be one person for this group, another for that one. Acting is the true root of civilization.”

His expression changed and he shook his head. “You try to put on a show for people. You don’t even think that these people care about you. You said what my dad did doesn’t matter. I’m going to tell you that what those people think really doesn’t matter. You’re not foolish or useless or whatever negative thing you might think about yourself. You only have so much control over what happens to you and I need for you to just think about what pleases you and not everyone else." 

She had spent most of her life trying to please. Please her neighbors. Please her husband. Please her children. 

_And what good has that done you?_ It almost startled her, hearing that thought in her own voice. Ann never pretended to be humble and she knew that her mask, her picture-perfect facade, was excellent. But Kyle was right, and it bothered her how much he saw. She was unhappy and lonely and just plain tired. 

And Kyle made it better. Not right, not perfect but definitely better.

Part of her hated that. 

Ann was almost surprised when she leaned in and kissed him. Kyle stiffened, but only briefly. His arms went around her waist and she nearly tripped over her stool as she moved back from the force of his kiss. 

For a moment all thoughts of everyone else were gone. His father, her husband. For that space of time, they did not exist and Ann reveled in it. She felt the moment when he remembered them. He pulled away from her and leaned his forehead against hers.

“That was a mistake”

Ann whispered, “That didn’t feel like one”

“I want to be a good man.”

She pulled away and caressed his face. “You already are one.”

  


**Author's Note:**

> This is the first fic I've published publicly in like...well, ever. Thanks so much to ExistentialMalaises for betaing this story. As with any story, the mistakes are mine. And thanks to https://craashdowns.tumblr.com/ for championing this ship. It isn't smutty but I hope it's at least a little sweet.


End file.
